In Search of Nixon: A Psychohistorical Inquiry - Softcover

Mazlish, Bruce

9780140217711: In Search of Nixon: A Psychohistorical Inquiry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140217711 ISBN 13: 9780140217711

Publisher: Penguin, 1973

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U.S. History, Politics, American Studies

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About the Author:

Bruce Mazlish was professor emeritus of history at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and fellow of The American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the author of The Leader, The Led, and the Psyche; The Revolutionary Ascetic, In Search of Nixon The Riddle of History; Reflections on the Modern and the Global, and Globalization and Transformation.

Howard G. Schneiderman is professor in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at Lafayette College.

Review:

“Admittedly bad psychohistory is at best a worthless drill and at worst it can be a malicious weapon for historical derision and libel. . . . On the other hand, when psychohistory is cautiously viewed as a ""retrodictive"" rather than ""predictive"" discipline and used with extreme scholarly discretion . . . it can illuminate our understanding of the historical record. Mazlish's own psychohistorical quest for the real Richard Nixon clearly falls into this latter category; Mazlish employs the technique judiciously and fairly and his book belongs among the best Nixon literature to date. . . . Mazlish constructs a personality profile of the President, considering the effects of Nixon's childhood illnesses, the early deaths of two of his brothers, the influence of his strong mother and weak father, his initial political experiences, etc. . . . This is the most complete and dispassionate psychological sketch of Richard Nixon we are likely to have for some time to come.”

—Kirkus Review

“Professor Mazlish points out that his purpose is not to offer the President therapy, but to unravel for the public certain mysteries of a strikingly opaque personality. He succeeds in a thoroughly admirable way.”

—Harriet Van Horne, nationally syndicated columnist

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